George Pataki Demands Network Time Under Equal Time Rule After Donald Trump Appeared On SNL

Republican presidential hopeful George Pataki submitted a request to NBC on Friday that enacts the equal time rule.

His letter is demanding that he be granted the same air time given to Donald Trump on last weekend’s edition of “Saturday Night Live.”

Under FCC rules, all GOP candidates are entitled to the 12 minutes and 5 seconds of airtime Trump was given as host of SNL.

While NBC doesn’t need to allow Pataki to host SNL, ie does need to give him “comparable time on a comparable platform.”

The request was sent to 16 NBC affiliates that aired the SNL episode in New England. That would give him access to New Hampshire, as well as South Carolina, Iowa and New York.

“Trump’s ideas are either fantasy or comedy, so every time he goes on the air we should be eligible for equal time, but we’ll settle for twelve and a half minutes,” Pataki’s spokesman Dave Catalfamo told CNN.

The move is likely a last ditch effort by Pataki to receive some national exposure. He didn’t qualify for last week’s Fox Business debate because he had less than 1% support in recent polls.